We love fishing switch rods at our lodges in Alaska and British Columbia. For the most part, we think of them as ‘mini-spey rods,’ and use them when swinging flies for everything thing from dolly varden to king salmon. We get a lot of questions from our guests and readers about the use and practicality of…
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Rapids Camp
Kokkaffe Media
For the past year, we were fortunate to host Peter Christensen, founder of Kokkaffe Media, at each one of our locations. Peter is a super fishy film maker who has produced numerous award winning fly fishing inspired films alongside Kokkaffe Media cofounder Rolf Nylinder. If you’re a fishing film nerd like us, chances are you’ve seen a…
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A Beautiful Day in Alaska
It might not look like ideal weather to most, but when we’re chasing salmon in Western Alaska, we long for days like this.. Bright sunny days can make for epic trout fishing, but dark, gloomy, and down right miserable looking days means happy salmon, and we like that. More on Salmon Fishing The High Sun Game Plan…
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Fishing From a Boat – Cast Downstream!
At our Alaskan operations, we’re really lucky to have access to some extremely diverse trout fisheries. At any point during the season at Alaska West, we target trout by sight fishing for rainbows in side channels, fishing the main river on foot, or fishing from our jet boats ‘drift boat style.’ The beauty of our river is that trout can…
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Nice Fish, Bryan
Congrats to our own Bryan Burke for landing this monster of a rainbow trout from the Naknek River this fall! The Naknek River, home of our Rapids Camp Lodge operation, has been named the best trophy rainbow trout river in all of Alaska, and each fall more 30+ inch trout are landed than at any other…
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New Study: How Often Do Trout and Grayling Eat Mice?
In our neck of the woods, trout eat mice (well, shrews to be exact). It’s no secret, we write about it a lot.. Why? Because it’s awesome! However, did you know that grayling have also been known to take down their share of mammals as well? Its true, during certain times of year, particularly early…
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Why They’re Called Leopard Rainbows
Our rainbow trout in western Alaska look a little different than in the rest of the world. We call them leopard rainbows, and for good reason.. They look like this! Thanks to Alaska West regular, James Hambrick Jr. for tying into this beauty. We’re still trying to find an area on this trout that’s not…
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Popper Fishing for Salmon – 5 Tips
We may be winding down towards the end of the season at our Alaska operations, but chances are if you live near a river that is inhabited by silver salmon, the cohos are still pushing! We’re fortunate to live on a river that has an extremely productive silver salmon fishery (from late July through early…
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Ol’ Red
We have a tradition at Alaska West that on the last day of the week, guests and staff alike gather around for a slideshow of the week’s best photos. We’re fortunate to fish for a variety of fish species including big leopard rainbow trout and chrome bright salmon, all of which make for some good…
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Rapids Camp Lodge Fall Special
Love fall in Alaska like we do? Rapids Camp Lodge is celebrating its 20th anniversary by offering a fall trophy special. Including all the amenities RCL is known for, two fly-out day trips to area destinations of your choosing, and four days of fishing on the famed trophy trout waters of the Naknek River. Space…
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